UFC 205 Aftermath: Mapping McGregor’s 2017 Schedule

With a baby on the way, belts on each shoulders and plenty of options, Conor McGregor could do just about anything in 2017. E. Spencer Kyte lays out a roadmap for how “The Notorious” one could approach the year.

After beating Eddie Alvarez and “losing his head” when the UFC didn’t have two belts at the ready for him to celebrate with on Saturday night, new two-division world champion Conor McGregor made it crystal clear what he covets most as 2016 approaches its conclusion: equity.

The 28-year-old Irishman has been setting records and making history for the last two years, climbing to the top of two of the deepest, most talent-rich divisions in the promotion with relative ease, all while embarking on a two-fight detour to welterweight. He’s accomplished what he initially set out to do upon arrival in the UFC and he’s done it with style, leaving him in a position to make such requests of the new WME-IMG-led ownership group.

How quickly that situation is resolved will obviously be a significant factor in when McGregor returns to the Octagon and what he does as a potential encore to his magical performance at UFC 205. At the same time, the man has two championship belts, a desire to retain and defend both, and an assortment of opponents at the ready, poised to step into the cage with him at a moment’s notice.

So rather than sit here waiting for this newest power struggle between the promotion and its biggest star to play out, let’s have some fun trying to forecast how 2017 might play out for “The Notorious” one.

A couple notes before we begin:

(1) This is all based on the idea that McGregor wins the following fights; if he loses at any point, the plan has to shift, obviously.

(2) None of this is particularly fair to fighters like Max Holloway who have already done enough to merit a featherweight title shot, but this is all built around how McGregor might envision approaching the year, not what I think would be best from a sporting perspective.

(3) This is strictly an exercise in hyperbole; I have zero inside information, nor do I expect things to unfold as written below – though if they do, how smart will I look?

McGregor’s other declaration at Saturday’s post-event media session was that he and girlfriend Dee Devlin are expecting a child in May (not March) and that he’s ultra-nervous about the impending arrival of “Little Mac.”

After announcing the news, the two-weight champion said, “I’m crapping my jocks! It’s going to mess with my head,” much to the amusement of everyone in attendance. “I just want to have this baby and take some time,” both of which make perfect sense.

But with baby set to arrive in the second quarter of 2017, perhaps the fighting father-to-be will want to squeeze in one more fight before pressing pause on his career as fatherhood officially arrives?

If McGregor is keen on keeping and defending both belts – and he’s proven himself durable enough to handle the hefty workload over the last two years, logging six fights in 2015 and 2016 combined – stepping into the Octagon in the opening three months of the year might make sense and there is an event on the calendar that feels too perfect to pass up.

UFC 209: McGregor-Diaz III at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York on Feb. 11 seems like an obvious landing place for this trilogy fight, given that McGregor has expressed a desire to fight on the East Coast (and not Nevada). Including one (or both) members of the Diaz family on the fight card carrying the area code they’ve made famous in fight circles is a no-brainer.

It’s a somewhat quick turnaround to fight Nov. 12 and Feb. 11, but McGregor emerged from his bout with Alvarez without a scratch and this has the potential to be a colossal payday prior to taking a hiatus.

What the challengers should do: Interim featherweight champ Jose Aldo should sit tight; Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson should ready to face each other in the second quarter of 2017 in a Highlander-esque “There can only be one” title elimination bout; Tyron Woodley should prep to face Stephen Thompson again.

Second Quarter

Relax.

Spend time at home, painting the nursery, reading What to Expect When You’re Expecting and running out to the grocery store to tackle whatever cravings Dee is having before baby arrives.

Fighting early in the first quarter of the year would allow McGregor to be 100-per-cent focused on welcoming his child into the world whenever he or she does turn up, which is precisely what he wants to do.

What the challengers should do: Stay patient, Jose; Nurmagomedov and Ferguson should headline a FOX show or be the third bout on a PPV with two strong championship bouts closing things out; Woodley-Thompson II as the co-main of said PPV could work, maybe with the heavyweight title on the line in the main event… maybe on Memorial Day weekend in Las Vegas?

Third Quarter

UFC featherweight interim title contender and former linear champion Jose Aldo of Brazil interacts with fans during a Q&A session before the UFC 198 weigh-in at Arena da Baixada stadium.

If McGregor gets to July without having been stripped of the featherweight title, it will have been 18 months since he won the belt and if he’s going to continue trying to hold on to it, he’s got to defend it.

UFC 216: McGregor-Aldo II on Saturday, Aug. 19 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Booking this fight in August gives McGregor an extra month around the house/prep-time following the birth of his child and instead of having this rematch headline the annual Fourth of July PPV in Las Vegas, it’s an attempt to run back-to-back big shows during the dog days of summer, similar to how things played out this year with UFC 200 and UFC 202.

(Note: UFC 214: Cormier-Jones II is my early prediction for the July 8 PPV in Vegas)

Aldo gets the fight he covets and a chance to redeem himself; McGregor gets the opportunity to silence whatever few skeptics remain by proving his UFC 194 stoppage win over the Brazilian standout was far from a fluke.

What the contenders should do: Aldo should walk around wearing four layers of bubble wrap at all times to ensure he makes it to the fight; the winner of the Nurmagomedov-Ferguson scrap should be starting to get ready; and whoever is the welterweight champion should be drilling jiu jitsu defense because Demian Maia still wants his damn title shot.

Fourth Quarter

Khabib Nurmagomedov of Russia reacts against Michael Johnson of the U.S. in their lightweight bout during the UFC 205 event at Madison Square Garden.

Should he make it to the final three months of 2017 with both UFC titles still in his possession – which means additional victories over both Diaz and Aldo – McGregor would be starting to enter “Greatest of All-Time” territory (he’d be 11-1 in the UFC, 5-0 in championship bouts and holding two belts) and looking to close out the year with another championship defense.

At some point, McGregor is going to go back to Vegas and the annual year-end show feels far enough in the future for the John Kavanagh protégé to have his issues with the NAC resolved. This bout could potentially be against Ferguson as well; I just went with “The Eagle” because I think he beats “El Cucuy” when/if they share the Octagon early next year.

After kind of avoiding title contenders in 2016 (for obvious reasons), this would be a fitting way to finish the year for McGregor – facing a third straight serious threat with one of his belts on the line, leaving no room for critics to question his approach or the fact that he wasn’t stripped of either title.

What the contenders should do: Featherweights can keep holding their breath, hoping McGregor returns or gives up the belt; someone else will have emerged at lightweight with a strong case and they’ll need to be readying for a potential title fight in the first half of 2018; the welterweight champion should probably be working on dodging left hands from southpaws and figuring out how to quickly close the distance against a guy with a 74” reach and lightning-fast hands.

Conclusions

Conor McGregor celebrates his KO victory over Eddie Alvarez.

Only defending the featherweight title once sucks for guys like Max Holloway, Anthony Pettis and whoever else finds themselves in the Top 5 at 145-pounds during the course of 2017, but if McGregor vanquishes Aldo for a second time in the summer and makes it through the entire year as a two-weight world champion, maybe – just maybe – he’d be willing to part with the featherweight strap before the start of 2018.

Because if all this comes to pass, McGregor could look at the next year as a chance to make even more history by setting his sights on the welterweight title and winning gold in a third division, something no one has even come close to doing to this point.

All of this may sound a little grandiose and unlikely at this point, but everyone was saying the same thing when McGregor initially said he wanted to replicate his Cage Warriors success in the Octagon and he did just that on Saturday.

He’s talented and driven and at this point, dismissing him or suggesting he cannot do something is foolish.

E. Spencer Kyte covers MMA for The Province and hosts the Keyboard Kimura Podcast. Follow him on social media (@spencerkyte) and subscribe to the podcast on iTunes and Stitcher.

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